Concerts: Ayreon To Perform Live In 2017 (Already Sold Out!), Plus New Album Planned

While the tickets have all sold out in the short period of time between announcement and our posting of this news item, Ayreon will perform live for the first time ever as Ayreon Universe, performing the best of Ayreon (presumably new material as well, as there is a new album being recorded; more on that below).

The now sold-out dates are: September 15, 16 and 17, 2017 at the Poppodium 013 in Tilburg, NL.

This once-in-a-lifetime* experience will include no fewer than "16 original Ayreon singers, including backing vocals, as well as a hand-picked band of 8 of the best instrumentalists," states the webspace set up for this event. "The Ayreon Universe set list features selected songs from all Ayreon albums plus a selection of Star One songs." And, it is prominently noted, "Arjen will make a special appearance performing live on stage."

There is also a new Ayreon album scheduled for a 2017 release. While nothing of the story has been revealed, the artwork for the site certainly hints at a Sci-Fi theme, which is not surprising, there has always been a SF/fantastical element to the Ayreon universe (no pun intended). There is a hit of something grittier though, a la the "used universe" look of Alien or Babylon 5 (though that's only my references, there's nothing here to suggest any connection; although we know Lucassen is no stranger to SF, given his Star One project's oeuvre).

For this new Ayreon opus, bit by bit the players have been revealed, via fans' opportunities to guess who the guest is. So far revealed: Vocalists James LaBrie as "The Historian," Tommy Rogers as "The Chemist," Simone Simons as "The Counselor," Michael Mills as "TH-1," Floor Jansen as "The Biologist," Hansi Kürsch as "The Astronomer," Tobias Sammet as "The Captain," and Michael Eriksen as "The Diplomat." Four more vocalists are yet to be revealed. So far, two musicians have been revealed: Paul Gilbert (guest guitar solo) and Guthrie Govan (guest guitar solo).

From The Editor

March 27, 2017: Transparency - all for it, except in my clothes. So yeh, we were hibernating again and the site crapped out. During part of the absence, a redesign was in the works. What you see now. It's not 100% finished, so you may find some quirks. But it seems 100% functional, so here it is...